Polly reached out, her hand gently grasping Jana’s arm. “Are you certain about this? We’ve barely settled here, and now you’re rushing off to another ship? Shouldn’t we stick together?”
Jana’s resolve was clear. “The ship’s damage and the unstable asteroids are Phares’ responsibility. There are people that need our assistance, and I have the skills to help.”
Polly shook her head, her instincts tingling with apprehension. “I’m not sure it’s the best idea. Something about this doesn’t sit right with me.”
Whether it was her nerves or intuition, Polly couldn’t tell, but the unease was real.
Jana’s voice was reassuring, yet firm. “It’s going to be okay. What else would we do here? Just wander and shop? I’d rather be doing something meaningful, contributing in some way.”
Polly understood the sentiment but couldn’t shake her concern. She lowered her voice. “You’re placing a lot of trust in this situation.”
As they spoke, Erzo and Phares subtly led them toward an elevator.
“Ladies,” Erzo interjected, indicating the awaiting lift.
Jana threw her hands up, ignoring him. “Look, for all we know, we’re just beautifully decorated corpses lying in that park. Might as well enjoy this possibly post-mortem adventure while it lasts, right?”
Polly bit her lip, trying to stifle a laugh. Trust Jana to put a bizarrely cheerful spin on the possibility of being in the afterlife. But deep down, Polly’s gut screamed that this was no celestial waiting room. The weird smells, the oddly shaped food, and the fact that her hair still needed washing—all of it screamed, ‘This is real life, honey, not a cosmic joke!’
While Polly contemplated how to delicately reveal to Jana that they were most likely alive and not ghostly tourists on an intergalactic excursion, a blaring noise erupted in the market. Startled, they both spun around to see a three-eyed alien riding what appeared to be a cross between a scooter and a small spaceship, weaving erratically through the crowd while honking its obnoxiously loud horn.
Jana burst out laughing. “Okay, if this is the afterlife, it’s got a seriously whacked sense of transportation!”
Polly couldn’t help but chuckle despite the weirdness of the situation. “I’m telling you, we’re not dead. Dead people don’t get alien road rage.”
Her laughter was abruptly cut short when the alien driver lost control. The scooter, honking wildly, veered off course and crashed into a nearby vendor’s stall with a thunderous crash. It became a tangle of debris, with the alien driver dazed and the vendor visibly shaken, his goods scattered across the ground.
Jana’s laughter died in her throat, her eyes wide with shock. “Oh no, that’s not good.”
Polly turned to Jana, her voice barely above a whisper, “This... this is definitely real. Way too real.”
11
Erzo gazed out the window at the star-studded expanse and the ships gliding past the station, lost in his thoughts. He did a double-take at his own actions, whipping up meals for her like he was auditioning for ‘Galactic Chef’ and toting her bags around like he’d signed up to be her attendant. Having a mate was a calculated move, not an unexpected slide into a cozy thing with a human woman.
Olmed approached him cautiously. “Troubles?”
Erzo turned, his eyes meeting those of his red-skinned friend. “Just lost in thought.”
Olmed waited, an unspoken invitation for Erzo to continue.
Erzo sighed. “I agreed to this arrangement to protect myself and Breal, not because I wanted a mate. But now... now that it’s real, with Polly, it feels overwhelming, almost suffocating.”
Olmed’s expression softened. “It’s never simple with matters of the heart, is it?”
Yet, now faced with the reality of having a mate, a sense of wrongness gnawed at him. With Breal, there had been an understanding, a mutual agreement that would have seen them live their lives separately, intersecting only when necessary. It was a cold, pragmatic arrangement, but it would have served their purpose, making them pawns in a larger game that was the politics of the Charro clans.
Erzo scoffed lightly. “Heart? This is about survival, about the clan. But with Polly, it’s different. She’s not just a pawn in our games. She’s... more.”
“A burden?” Olmed ventured.
She wasn’t a piece to be moved at convenience. Polly needed him, truly and deeply that was foreign and overwhelming. Protecting her in a universe she didn’t understand weighed on him, a burden as heavy, if not heavier, than any duty his clan had imposed on him.
His plan to have a mate chosen for him was supposed to be a solution, an escape. He hadn’t anticipated the intensity, the profound sense of duty that came with it. He had lied to himself, believing it would be simple.
“No, not a burden,” Erzo corrected quickly. “An unexpected responsibility. She needs more than just an occasional presence. She needs guidance and protection in a world she’s unfamiliar with.”
Olmed nodded, understanding. “And that weighs on you.”
